IPL 2019: Biggest strength of each franchise

Less than two weeks remain for the much-anticipated IPL 2019 to begin. Almost all the teams have kickstarted their training sessions. The first encounter of the upcoming edition will be contested between Chennai Super Kings and Royal Challengers Bangalore at the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai.

Each team was given a budget of ₹82 Crore for completing its squad of a maximum of 25 players. A total of 60 players (40 Indian and 20 overseas) went under the hammer at the 2019 IPL auctions. A whopping ₹107 crores were spent by all the franchises combined at the auction.

The Punjab-based franchise opted to go for a major overhaul and retained just 9 of their players from last season. Meanwhile, the defending champions Chennai Super Kings retained as many as 23 players from last season and have pretty much the same side.

The auctions are now done and dusted with and the complete squads of the 8 IPL teams have been formed. In this article, we take a look at what is the strength of each franchise.

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#1 Delhi Capitals - Top Order Batsmen

Rishabh Pant is again expected to play a major role of Delhi

Delhi Capitals roped in Ricky Ponting to be their head coach ahead of IPL 2019. This is already a huge plus for the team. The Delhi-based franchise would be looking to bounce back strongly after finishing at the rock bottom 8th place on the IPL table last time around.

Shikhar Dhawan was also roped in during the transfers. 'Gabbar' had been going through a dry spell with the bat but proved his worth for the Indian team by smashing 143 in the 4th ODI against Australia recently. This is his highest-ever score in ODIs and would give him a much-needed morale boost.

Exceptionally talented Indian top-order batsmen such as Shikhar Dhawan, Shreyas Iyer, and Prithvi are sure to give the Capitals a good start - more often than not.

What's more is that they will be followed by the likes of Rishabh Pant and all-rounders Hanuma Vihari and Colin Munro.

Delhi Capitals look balanced overall as they have the brilliant fast bowling unit comprising Kagiso Rabada, Trent Boult, and Ishant Sharma.

Colin Ingram, Amit Mishra, and Axar Patel are some of the other players to watch out for.

#2 Kings XI Punjab - Openers

Gayle (left) and Lokesh Rahul (right)

Kings XI Punjab finished at the 7th place in IPL 2018 after winning 6 and losing 8 of their 14 league stage encounters.

The Punjab-based franchise has witnessed a major overhaul with plenty of new faces coming in.

The openers Lokesh Rahul and Chris Gayle will once again play a major part. The 'Universe Boss' amassed 368 runs in 11 IPL matches last season - at an average of 40.88 and strike rate 146.03. Lokesh Rahul, on the other hand, finished as the 3rd highest run-getter of the 2018 edition and accumulated 659 in 14 matches at an average of 54.91 and strike rate of 158.41.

Besides Rahul and Gayle, Karun Nair and Mandeep Singh are the other key batsmen in the squad. Young Wicketkeeper batsman Nicholas Pooran and the all-rounders Sam Curran and Varun Chakaravarthy promise to be interesting to watch as well.

The bowling department will be spearheaded by experienced Indian speedster Mohammed Shami and Andrew Tye, who finished as the highest wicket-taker of 2018 IPL.

#3 Chennai Super Kings - Plethora of Mature players

Will CSK win the title twice in a row?

It is always great to have experienced players in your team. However, having experienced players who also have a sense of maturity is an added bonus.

CSK are the most successful team in the IPL as they have lifted the trophy thrice and also finished runners-up a record four times.

The core of the Chennai-based franchise is the same as that of IPL 2018 as 23 players were retained. Mohit Sharma and Ruturaj Gaikwad were the only two players roped in during the 2019 auction.

A major strength of CSK is their captain cool, Mahendra Singh Dhoni. MSD is an asset to have in the team. He is a brilliant player himself and there are innumerable instances when he has finished things off with the bat. There are a few other players who have the ability to read situations as well as Mahi.

Players such as Suresh Raina, Faf du Plessis, Ambati Rayudu, Dwayne Bravo, Ravindra Jadeja, Shane Watson, Harbhajan Singh, Imran Tahir, and Kedar Jadhav make CSK a formidable unit.

All the aforementioned players have plenty of experience playing for their respective national teams and have a sense of maturity as well. They can be expected to prove their mettle by playing calmly in high-pressure situations.

The defending champions CSK are once again one the favourites to lift the trophy.

#4 Kolkata Knight Riders - The Windies all-rounders

Russell (2nd from left) and Narine (4th from left) - Image Credits (BCCI)

KKR reached the semis last season but lost out to the Sunrisers Hyderabad in the Qualifier.

Anrich Nortje and Lockie Ferguson were the two foreign pacers picked up by the Kolkata-based franchise at the auction.

However, the biggest buy was all-rounder Carlos Brathwaite, who was roped in for a whopping ₹5 crores. KKR had earlier retained the players Andre Russell and Sunil Narine.

All of these three all-rounders possess the X-factor in them and will be the ones to watch out for.

Sunil Narine proved to be bang for the buck last season. He gave an exceptional performance with both bat and ball. The Trinidad & Tobago-born player clinched 17 wickets in 16 matches at an economy of 7.65. He also amassed 357 runs at an average of 22.31 and an explosive strike rate of 189.89. This earned him the Most Valuable Player of the tournament title.

Andre Russell also did well in IPL 2018. The Jamaican all-rounder picked up 13 wickets and accumulated 316 runs in 16 matches. The Windies trio of Narine, Brathwaite, and Russell can prove to be lethal for the opposition and will be KKR's biggest strength.

#5 Royal Challengers Bangalore - Promising batsmen apart from Kohli and ABD

ABD and Kohli

Royal Challengers Bangalore have always suffered a major problem in batting despite having star players such as AB de Villiers and Virat Kohli. The problem is the collapse of the middle order once the top order departs.

There aren't many players who are adept at steadying the ship and handling the pressure if the top 4 batsmen fail.

RCB have tried to address this concern by roping in the batsmen Heinrich Klaasen and Shimron Hetmyer. They also bought the all-rounders Shivam Dube and Prayas Ray Barman - both of whom have been rated highly by cricket experts.

Marcus Stoinis has been in good form in the recent past and played a few crucial knocks against India. The Aussie all-rounder played for Kings XI last season but is now with RCB as he was traded for Mandeep Singh.

The fast bowling department also looks well settled with the likes of Nathan Coulter-Nile, Mohammed Siraj, Tim Southee, and Umesh Yadav in the squad.

#6 Sunrisers Hyderabad - Bowling department

Sunrisers Hyderabad players

The bowling unit will once again be the point of strength for the Sunrisers.

Siddarth Kaul, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, and Khaleel Ahmed are the Indian speedsters to watch out for in the team. Billy Stanlake of Australia is another great fast bowling option in the team as is Sandeep Sharma.

Two out of the top 3 wicket-takers of the last season were from the Hyderabad-based franchise and both have been retained by the team. The first is Kaul, who clinched 21 wickets in 17 games and had an economy of 8.28.

The second is the spin maestro Rashid Khan, who also made 21 scalps in 17 matches and had an outstanding economy of 6.73. Experienced Bangladeshi all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan also imparts strength to the spin department and proved to be effective in IPL 2018.

Mohammad Nabi is another clever off-spinner in their ranks and can be utilized as he has been in good form with both bat and ball.

Jonny Bairstow and Martin Guptill are the other exciting additions made by SRH. They will impart strength to the batting department. Their talismanic player David Warner will also return to action after missing out in IPL 2018 due to the one-year ban after the ball tampering incident.

#7 Rajasthan Royals - Overseas talent

Rajasthan Royals

Steve Smith will be raring to come back in the IPL. The return of the talismanic skipper will give a huge boost to the team.

Jos Buttler finished as the 6th highest run-getter during the previous edition as he amassed 548 runs in 13 matches at an average of 54.80 and a phenomenal strike rate of 155.24. The Somerset-born player is expected to make a major impact once again.

Another exceptionally talented all-rounder with RR is Ben Stokes. The 27-year-old could not justify his high price tag last time around and will look to make amends in IPL 2019.

Kiwi spinner Ish Sodhi has also been in decent form lately and can be used effectively by the Rajasthan-based franchise.

Liam Livingstone was roped in by RR for ₹50 lakhs. He can prove to be a bargain buy considering his recent form. The Cumberland-born player is currently 5th highest run-getter in the Pakistan Super League. He has amassed 291 runs in 10 matches at an average of 32.33 and strike rate of 131.67. Liam has also smacked 3 fifties.

Ashton Turner has also been roped in. The Perth-born player proved his mettle and made everyone take notice of him when he smashed a match-winning 84 off 43 deliveries in the 4th ODI against India. The lanky Aussie all-rounder can set the league ablaze if he can repeat such performances with the bat in the IPL.

Young speedster Oshane Thomas is another overseas talent to watch out for. The 22-year-old from Windies is a wicket-taking bowler and imparts strength to the bowling unit.

Jofra Archer was exceptional in the last edition as he clinched 15 wickets in 10 matches played last season. The Barbados-born player did well in the Big Bash League as well. He made 18 scalps in 15 BBL matches at an economy rate of 7.53 and was a key figure for the Hobart Hurricanes.

Rajasthan Royals will have a tough time deciding which overseas players to have in their starting XI because they have so many good options.

#8 Mumbai Indians - Specialist Death Bowlers

Bumrah is currently the top-ranked bowler in ODIs (as per ICC)

Mumbai Indians have won the IPL title thrice (2013, 2015, and 2017) in the last 5 years. They have also reached the playoffs in 7 of their last 9 appearances in the coveted domestic T20 tournament.

With Lasith Malinga and Jasprit Bumrah in MI's ranks, it will be extremely difficult for the opposition to score runs against them during the death overs. Both these players are death over specialists and are renowned all over for their ability to bowl inch-perfect yorkers during crunch situations.

The Aussie speedsters Mitchell McClenaghan and Jason Behrendorff are also supremely talented fast bowlers and MI has a lethal fast bowling unit overall.

McClenaghan did extremely well for Auckland in the recent Super Smash 2018-19. The left-arm fast-medium bowler made 17 scalps in just 9 matches to finish as the 2nd highest wicket-taker of the tournament.

The Pandya brothers can also prove to be handy for Mumbai Indians in tricky situations.